Hey y'all, I'm Danielle - the crazy behind this blog, where I share my creative life adventures as I survive life as a momma of 5 superheroes & wife to my best friend & fellow nerd. Life doesn't have to be perfect to be GREAT! You can reach me at danielle (at) busymomshelper.com - ABOUT -

Are you a garlic fan? We sure are, especially garlic bread with spaghetti or other red-sauced pasta. I don’t often like spending tons of time, though, so these super-quick Garlic Parmesan Knots are perfect! (originally shared March 2014)

I know I just did a recipe using refrigerated crescents/biscuits the other day with these Super Quick Beignets, but they’re just SO HELPFUL when you’re trying to make something in a hurry! Seriously, I keep some packages stocked in my fridge at all times. At the moment there are……12 packs! Yup, that’s about normal here!

I love baking up these Garlic Parmesan Knots often because they’re so quick and easy. Plus, delicious! Serve them along with some spaghetti or red-sauced penne pasta. Or, just a flavorful side roll! And read on to find another variation I do that is super sweet and tasty!

Ingredients

2 cans Refrigerated Crescent Rolls (or Biscuits)

1/4 cup Olive Oil

3 tbsp. Parmesan Cheese (grated, or the shaky kind)

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Oregano Flakes

1 tsp. Parsley Flakes

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Spray two cookie sheets; set aside.

Take the Crescent Rolls/Biscuits and roll into a long, skinny rope. Tie the rope into a knot, sticking the ends into the ball.

Place the knots onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure the middles aren’t doughy/uncooked.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, then brush onto the knots while they’re still warm.

Notes: Makes about 20 knots, depending on the size of the rolls/biscuits package you choose.

VARIATION JUST FOR FUN: Roll the dough into ropes, spread with some butter/cinnamon/sugar mixture. Tie in a knot, cook as above. Drizzle/brush with a good cinnamon roll frosting 🙂

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WeekNightHero #CollectiveBias

As much as I love cooking, I often dread late afternoon because I know I have to get dinner ready. Life’s busy, so I just don’t have the time to spend forever on a tasty meal for my family! Luckily, I’ve found some great simple meals so we have some Dinnertime Help with TWO Quick Recipes: Sweet Onion Teriyaki Kabob Casserole and Chicken Herb & Garlic Soup!

These recipes were already super simple to make and absolutely delish…a crowd-pleaser fore sure! Now they’re even EASIER, though, and take even fewer ingredients just by replacing some of them with the NEW Campbell’s Soups for Easy Cooking! So convenient to keep on-hand for those nights you just don’t have the time (most nights, for me!). When you can whip up a fantastic meal in less than 30 minutes or work, that’s a definite Woot Woot! So grab a few of the fresh sealed cartons (not cans) from the soup aisle at Walmart and get cookin’!

I love that these not only help me use fewer ingredients, but I get a more flavorful meal for hardly any effort at all! Don’t forget to take advantage of a $0.75 coupon on Walmart.com valid until 04/13.

Spread your veggies (except onions) evenly in the baking dish over the marinade. Top with your diced meat, then strips of onion. Spread the remaining marinade over top (it will gain more moisture and spread during cooking, so don’t worry if it’s clumpy).

Cover with foil and bake for 30-45 minutes, or until meat is cooked through and veggies are as tender as you prefer. Serve plain or over rice for a delicious, quick meal!

Here’s more ways you can switch up your favorite, simple recipes for your busy schedule:

Recipe calls for Cream of Mushroom >> now try the Savory Portobello Mushroom in your recipe (great for skillet recipes)

Who else is a total pasta-lover here? My family LOVES pasta, and we try to fit it into our menu at least once or twice a week. I think one of the great things about it is how flexible you can be with it…such a variety of flavors, ingredients, and make it as simple or complex as you’d like. Plus, it tastes amazing, right?! This Copy-Cat Tuscan Garlic Chicken is no exception, and you can make it up fast with no hassle, too!

Seriously, this is one of my favorite dishes (among many) from Olive Garden, but I just can’t eat out all the time. Between the time, finding a sitter (who wants to drag 4 little kiddos to dinner), plus the cost…ya, just not happening much. So I was thrilled to get a matching Tuscan Garlic Chicken at my own home! Now I can enjoy it any time I get a craving for it!

Ingredients

3/4 cups All-purpose Flour plus 1 tbsp.

1/2 tbsp. Salt

1 tsp. Pepper

1/2 tsp. Basil

1/2 tsp. Oregano

4 Chicken Breasts, Boneless and Skinless

5 tbsp. Olive Oil, divided

1 tbsp. Garlic, minced

1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped

1/2 cup Chicken Broth

1/2 cup Spinach, fresh

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

2 tsp. Cornstarch

1 cup Milk (I used skim, and it worked great)

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated

1 lb. Fettuccine (or similar pasta)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Spray or line a baking sheet and set aside.

In a shallow bowl/plate, mix the flour, salt, pepper, basil and oregano. Coat each chicken breast until both sides are well covered.

Heat 3 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, CAREFULLY put the chicken in the pan and cook each side for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Take caution not to push the chicken around in the skillet or a lot of the coating will fall off.

Carefully place the chicken breasts into the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked completely through. Remove from the oven when done, and tent with foil until ready to serve.

WHILE THE CHICKEN IS COOKING: cook the pasta according to the box directions. Grab another large skillet (or wipe out the one you used for the chicken) and heat a new 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat.

When the oil in the skillet is hot, saute the garlic and bell pepper for 2-3 minutes.

Mix the cornstarch and cream into the skillet mixture, then add the spinach and milk. Cook on a low simmer, stirring occasionally, until the spinach starts to wilt and the sauce begins to thicken, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and remove from heat.

After the pasta is done, drain and return to the pot. Add half the sauce to the pasta and lightly stir until coated.

To plate, put some pasta coated in sauce onto the plate, top with a chicken breast, and add some of the remaining sauce on top. Serve, ENJOY!

It’s October. Really?! Yes, really, and although I’m totally stoked it’s Halloween time, I’m also sitting here shaking my head at where the time has flown the past few months. I keep saying I’m going to get caught up and be on top of things, but perhaps this is just how my life is, and I’m beginning to be okay with that! Us bloggers have crazy schedules with a LOT going on every second, so busy is just what we get use to! That’s just like today’s Blogger Spotlight: Inside BruCrew Life!

Now, there’s a lot of blogs out there. Seriously, an INSANE amount! As much as I’d love to follow most of them, it’s just not possible. I’ve found that the ones I DO follow consistently, you can tell the blogger has a true passion for what they’re sharing, whether it be food or crafts or general topics. That passion really makes them, and their posts, shine! Jocelyn from Inside BruCrew Life is one of those that you can tell LOVES what she does. Her recipes are so genuine and delicious, the photography is amazing, and in her writing it just shows she’s a super fun gal!

Here’s a bit about Jocelyn in her own words: “Hi,my name is Jocelyn, and I am the baker, photographer, and writer behind Inside BruCrew Life. I have been married to my best friend for over 15 years, and we have three great kids. On my blog you will find plenty of sugar and treats. Occasionally I like to throw out a dinner recipe and surprise my readers. That doesn’t happen too often. Most days you will find me in my kitchen baking cookies or cupcakes. I believe in cake mixes and using lots of sprinkles. Because of this crazy habit, I now have a love/hate relationship with the gym. I do have to admit that I kind of, sort of like running now. But don’t hold me to that. I am a huge procrastinator, and I drink too much coffee and Diet Dr. Pepper. It’s that caffeine high that helps me get all my projects finished. I love my family and I love what I do. Please come over and bake, eat, and repeat with us as we share life from our kitchen.”

Every year I try to make summer fun and get to everything we want to do, but we just never seem to fit it all in. This summer, though, we decided there were things we just HAD to do….and we made it ‘official’ by creating our Customizable Summer Bucket List!

One more week. That’s all that’s left of school for my 2nd grader, and I absolutely cannot believe it! Not that having one extra kid home, added to the 3 already here all day, is going to make a huge difference, but for some reason school being out changes the whole household atmosphere. SUMMERTIME! It’s like a switch flips in the kids and suddenly it’s swimming, bubbles, bikes, late nights and MUCH more chill-axing schedule. Here’s some of the insanity fun we have coming up the next few months, proudly displayed on the fridge!

To me, nothing says ‘summer’ quite like a good ol’ S’more. With all the cold we’re having (it’s Texas, for crying out loud!), I really needed to at least FEEL like winter was about over. Back to my muffin addiction, and Viola! You’ve got delicious (and fast because, hey, mornings are rushed enough) S’mores Muffins!

Okay, so chocolate and marshmallow MAY not be the healthiest breakfast, but they can’t be too far from the sugary cereal or poptarts I could do, right? They sure taste better, though! I also use them for a great snack; they get their ‘sweet’ fix, but it’s healthier than many of the other options.

Yield: 12 Muffins

Ingredients

6 tbsp. Butter, softened

1/2 cup Brown Sugar, packed

8 tsp. Sugar

2 Eggs

6 tbsp. Milk

2/3 cup Sour Cream

1 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

1 cup Graham Cracker Crumbs

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Ground Cinnamon

2/3 cup Chocolate Chips (I used mini)

1/2 cup Mini Marshmallows

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F. Spray or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

Use the fork to ‘smoosh’ the Butter and Sugars together. Stir in the Egg, Milk and Sour Cream.

In a separate bowl, mix the Flour, Graham Crumbs, Salt, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Cinnamon. Add to the Butter mixture until well-mixed. Carefully stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups 1/4 of the way full of batter (just barely covering the bottom). Add some marshmallows, about 3-5. Top with more batter until 3/4 of the way full.

Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until cooked through. If you use the toothpick trick, remember that it may be done but still come out with melted chocolate chips or marshmallows. Don’t overcook!

Guys, seriously, thank you SO MUCH for your patience while we’re working out all the kinks on our new site/design. I know I’m not posting as regularly, but promise there’s lots of fun to come…such as these Super Quick Beignets!

So Saturday morning’s can get a bit CRAZY here. For one, Hubby and I usual stay up into the wee hours of the morning catching up on work, projects, cleaning, dishes, etc. So Saturday’s are nice to sleep in, unless we have to run get our co-op produce basket at a bright and early 7am. Regardless, it’s hard to get going, especially with breakfast. Muffins are a frequent fix for us, but after trying out these Super Quick Beignets, that were a huge hit and ultra easy, I think these are going to give muffins a run for their money onto our breakfast menu!

Ingredients

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (or biscuits, doesn’t matter)

1 Quart Vegetable or Olive Oil (for frying)

Powdered Sugar and/or Honey

Directions

Heat the Oil in a large pot (or fryer, if you have one). I just used our big pasta pot, which worked fine.

Roll out the refrigerated roll dough into strips, cutting in about 1″ squares.

When the oil is hot, CAREFULLY put dough squares into the oil and allow it to fry until a golden brown. This only took 1-3 minutes for us, depending on the size of the piece.

CAREFULLY remove and place on a paper towel so some of the oil dabs off.

Sprinkle with Powdered Sugar and/or Honey. Enjoy warm!

Notes: PLEASE be careful with the hot oil….it splashes easily, so make extra care to keep kids and pets away from the ‘splash’ zone!

I’M SO GLAD IT’S FRIDAY!!! Okay, sorry to scream at you, but I had to just shout out my relief that this heck-of-a-week is finally over! I hope you all have had a much better week than us! At least I got to enjoy the last of these so-dang-good-can’t-stop-at-one No Cake Mix Red Velvet Cookies!

Now I love a good box mix cookie, cake or brownie just as much as the next sugar-aholic, but sometimes you just want to go ‘old school’ and make it from scratch. For these, though, I actually had a very important reason for not using a box mix: my uber-sweet aunt that lives down the street LOVES red velvet cookies…but she’s allergic to red food coloring! EEEEK! I wanted to do something for her, so decided to whip up a batch of these, complete with creamy-and-addictive cream cheese frosting.

Directions – Cookies

In a large bowl, mix the Flour, Cocoa Powder, Baking Soda and Salt.

In a separate bowl, use a fork or mixer to ‘smoosh’ the softened Butter, Brown Sugar and Sugar until it’s well-mixed. Add the Egg, Milk and Vanilla and mix well. If using, now mix in the Food Coloring.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix until a soft dough is formed. Stir in the chips.

Use aluminum foil or plastic wrap to cover the dough and chill for at least 1-2 hours.

When ready, preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. Line or spray two baking sheets.

Spoon the dough in 1″ balls and place on baking sheets.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE, or they won’t be soft and moist.

Allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Ingredients – Frosting

2 boxes (16 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened

2 sticks (1 cup) Unsalted Butter, softened

8 cups Powdered Sugar

2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Directions – Frosting

In a bowl, mix the Cream Cheese and Butter until well-combined.

One cup at a time, add the Powdered Sugar and mix until smooth.

Add the Vanilla and fully combined. Spread on cookies, and enjoy!

Notes: Refrigerate frosting, as it has cream cheese in it.

My aunt was so excited for these Red Velvet cookies, and said they were the BEST COOKIES SHE’S EVER HAD! Boo-yah!

Happy Thursday ya’all! I’m so excited to share a fun Teacher Gift: Class Birthday Chart with you today as part of a Craft Lightning Teacher Appreciation week!

Learn more about the Craft Lightning week at the bottom, with LOTS more Teacher Gift ideas! First off, here’s how you can do this quick and oh-so-cute Class Birthday Chart. I chose to do mine in a puzzle theme, because that’s how Wonder Woman’s teacher has her classroom set up….she loves puzzles!

Supplies

Board (wood or foam board – I used a foam board sized 28″ x 10″)

Spray paint – for board

Letter Stickers – for words/months

Shape/design stickers – such as my puzzle pieces

Ribbon

Shapes/pieces – for the names/dates (I used blank puzzle pieces)

Glue and/or Tape

Pen – for writing names (I used a permanent marker with a fine tip)

Directions

Spray paint your board (1 minute). Allow to dry completely

Measure to the middle of the board, then move out from there to put your month stickers on. Then add any words/titles/designs you’d like to the rest of the board. (6-9 minutes)

Write the names and day of the birthdays on the pieces you chose. (2-3 minutes)

Glue or tape ribbon strips behind the board, under which month they go to. (1-2 minutes)

Glue or tape the pieces to the ribbon in which month they go to. (1-2 minutes)

Glue or tape a ribbon behind the board at the top, to hang. (1 minute)

Notes: For the pieces, I just wrote each child’s first name and the date their birthday falls on. For example, ‘Rob’s’ birthday is March 3rd. So on a piece I write ‘Rob’ then put a ‘3’ under his name on the piece. That piece then goes onto the ribbon hanging under Mar (March).

See how easy this Class Birthday Chart is? Quick, fun and you can customize it to match the teacher’s classroom! We’re so excited to give it to Wonder Woman’s teacher soon! Yes, this is just like my previous Birthday Calendar DIY I made for my family. So fun!

Check this out…..

What a super cute Free Printable Happy Birthday Bookmark from Bombshell Bling! I’m sure any teacher would appreciate these cute bookmarks, where they can fill in special ‘gifts’ for their students throughout the year on their birthdays. Go get your free printables at Bombshell Bling now!

For the Craft Lightning week, each day a group of fabulous bloggers shares a fun and QUICK teacher gift. They all take 15 minutes or less (excludes drying/inactive time), just like the Class Birthday Chart and Happy Birthday Bookmarks! Go check out the other fabulous ideas!